Complicated
by DaffodilDreamer
Summary: It's February 14th, 1977, and Lily Evans is baffled by James Potter's lack of gift giving. One-shot: submitted to the Lyric Challenge.


Submission to the Lyric Challenge posted by Drishti3693.

Challenge Rules:

1) The due date is **January 31st**.

2) It must be **over 500 words** when completed.

3) At least **two lines of the lyrics** must be used in the story. You can have your characters say them, be listening to them, whatever. Just **use them**.

4) You may request a change in song, but **no more than three times**.

I received the song _Complicated _by Avril Lavigne...so here it is...my first completed challenge fic!

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**Complicated**

Lily Evans went to bed on Sunday, February 13th fully prepared for what she knew was to come the following morning. February 14th was Valentine's Day, the day that kept card companies afloat and drove the rose population closer and closer to extinction. Her Valentine's Days used to be normal, filled with silly little cards and blushing grammar school secret admirers, and remained so until 1972 – her first Valentine's Day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Magic added its own flair to the traditional holiday with singing cards delivered by ugly flying cupids, roses enchanted to say something nice to the receiver each time a petal fell off, love potions, fireworks, chocolate, snogging, you name it. Lily could write the encyclopedia of magical Valentine's if she had the desire to do so. She would only have to carry a roll of parchment, ink, and quills around the entire day and make a log of all of the gifts she received – starting in the morning with the ones on the foot of her bed.

James Potter's attempts to woo her had started small with just a simple singing card during their first year. When she still rejected him, he came back stronger the next year. And the next, and next, until last year she could hardly walk across the Gryffindor common room without a cupid's arrow flying past her head. It had become a sort of elaborate game between her and James, or so she liked to tell herself. No matter how many gifts he sent to her on Valentine's Day, it was rumored there was always another girl in his bed at the end of the night. His advances were nowhere near serious.

So, the Head Girl put on her most conservative pajamas, and cast all sorts of charms around her bed (which failed miserably every year), and went to bed at her usual time. She woke to the light ringing of her alarm and turned it off without opening her eyes. She instead, inhaled deeply. Oddly, she could not smell anything remotely like chocolate or roses. She kicked her feet lightly towards the end of her bed, groaning loudly when her big toe came into contact with her foot board. There was nothing at the foot of her bed.

Lily slowly opened her eyes to see that her hypothesis was correct; nothing but her gold comforter and scarlet sheets. She was torn between smiling and pouting, between feeling relieved, forgotten, and suspicious. She pulled her bed curtains back slowly and carefully scanned her private quarters. Nothing in sight. She then bent her head over the side of her bed with no success.

Whatever was going on, she wasn't buying it. It was their last year, surely James would have saved his most elaborate shower of valentines for last. But, then again, he hadn't really given her any outlandish displays yet this year. Even her birthday was a relatively normal occurrence. It had been somewhat...pleasant, yet empty at the same time. She shook herself out of her reverie and began getting ready for the day.

XxX

The whole day went by with nothing surprising or out of the ordinary. It was the first Valentine's Day that Lily had received absolutely nothing, a fact that, surprisingly, had her infuriated and on edge. She opened the portrait to the Head common room and saw a mop of black hair poking up from behind the black love seat. "You know, you're not fooling anyone," she snapped as she tossed her shoulder bag into the corner.

James turned his head towards her. "Am I supposed to be?" he smiled.

Unbelievable. "Do you have any idea what day it is?" she asked.

He looked as if he was contemplating something briefly, before a look of horror sprung onto his face. "We didn't have a prefect meeting today did we?" he asked anxiously.

Un. Be. Livable. "It's Valentine's Day!" she snapped again with a roll of her eyes.

James raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I suppose it is."

Lily sighed. He was giving nothing up. "Well what did you...I mean what are you..." she struggled.

He laughed. "Yes Lily?"

She felt the urge to stare at her feet as a wave of burning tears came up behind her eyes. "You didn't do anything," she muttered.

She heard him stand up and walk nearer. "Sorry, didn't quite catch that," he said; Lily could tell he was smiling.

"You didn't get me anything," she said finally, drawing in a deep breath.

"Well what did you expect?"

"I dunno, just something! I thought we had something going for all of these years."

James laughed. "I'm pretty sure you've made it clear that we've had absolutely nothing between us all of these years."

She sighed. Why was he being so difficult? "I meant like a game on Valentine's Day. You always trying to outdo the previous year's show," she said looking up at him.

"Are you telling me that you liked all of my flashy planning?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Maybe," Lily admitted, blushing lightly.

"Well I'm afraid last year took everything out of my valentine bag of tricks."

"It's not just that," Lily continued, unable to control herself. "This whole year you haven't done anything. We practically live together and yet, nothing. No pickup lines, no invitations to Hogsmeade, no flowers, and no failed attempts to kiss me."

James shrugged as she shuffled closer to her. "I thought the displays annoyed you honestly."

"But still, you went from everything to absolutely nothing!" she yelled.

"Well what did you expect? I've been seeking your attentions in every way possible, even after being rejected mercilessly after each one. You couldn't expect that to continue forever," he said heatedly.

Lily scoffed. "But you didn't give any warning, no gradual fading away. You just stopped like...like... cold turkey!"

"What do you want me to do Lily? You've made it quite clear that you want nothing to do with me," he yelled.

"Just stop!"

"I have!"

"I meant...I just want..." she trailed off, her hands in fists at her sides.

"What? What do you want?"

She saw her own hand reach out and grab the front of James's white shirt, pulling him into her body. Her eyes shut themselves as she kissed him. His soft lips were still against hers, in shock for a few moments until he recovered enough to react to her sudden actions. They were kissing fiercely, her hands pulling at his wayward hair, his holding her waist and cheek.

They pulled away after a few minutes. James exhaled, laughing lightly. "What was that?" he asked.

"I – I," Lily stuttered, asking herself the same question.

"I think we just kissed," he smirked. "Or I died suddenly and by some wild chance wound up in Heaven."

Lily glared at him. "Why'd you have to go and make things so..."

"Complicated?" he suggested.

She laughed lightly. "I'm still waiting for confetti and streamers to come falling from the ceiling."

"You mean you didn't hear the fireworks?" James asked.

Lily looked at him quizzically. "Oh, Lils, they were so loud. You had to have heard them," he said. "Here, let me show you."

And with a final smile, James pulled her against his body for another kiss.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading! It was pretty fun to write...I think I enjoy challenges =] Thanks for reading!


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